From the horse’s mouth

Skully Helmets

My Comments

Those of us who use cars often take features like GPS satellite-navigation and rear-view cameras for granted. But motorcyclists feel left out because there isn’t a way to implement these technologies in a safe manner that works well for two wheels.

If a motorcyclist wants to use GPS navigation while riding their bike, they have to buy and use an expensive portable navigation device that is designed for motorcycle use and mount this to their machine’s handlebars. Or they have to seek out and purchase a smartphone dock that is designed to mount on a motorcycle’s handlebars and install their smartphone in that dock. Some of these accessories may not even look the part on certain bikes such as European-style scooters or “open-style” tourer bikes such as the Harley-Davidsons or Yamaha Viragos.

Now Skully have developed a motorcycle helmet that has an integrated GPS and rear-view camera. Here, this device uses a heads-up display that works independently of how you position the helmet’s visor to show the navigation graphics or the picture from the rear-view camera.

It has a Bluetooth link to your smartphone for updating map data but also provides access to telephony, music and voice-control features that your smartphone offers. THink of having a long ride while listening to your favourite music then telling your smartphone via Siri, S Voice or Google Voice to call the people whom you are seeing to let them know you’ll be there.

The Android-driven helmet has a battery runtime of 9 hours and can be charged using a microUSB data/charging cable connected to a computer or USB charger. It certainly shows that this is an invention that solves a problem many motorcyclists face and brings them on an even par to car drivers.